53 The lexicons suggest that מֵסַב (mesav) refers to a round banquet table ( מֵסַב) or divan with cushions ( 687 מֵסַב 2). In Mishnaic Hebrew the noun מֵסַב refers to a dining couch, banquet table, as well as cushions or pillows ( ). The related noun מְסִבָּה (mésibbah) refers to a banqueting party ( מְסִבָּה; 803 מְסִבָּה). The versions took it as a reference to a resting place (see , , ). R. E. Murphy (Song of Songs [Hermeneia], ) suggests that it refers to (1) a couch or divan on which a person declined while eating, (2) a group of people gathered in a circle, that is, an entourage, or (3) a private place such as an enclosure. The בִּמְסִבּוֹ (bimsibbo, “his banquet table”) is enigmatic: “While the king was at his banquet table, my nard gave forth its fragrance.” W. Rudolph suggests emending to מְסִבִּי (mésibbi, “around me”): “While the king surrounded me, my nard gave forth its fragrance” (Des Buch Ruth, das Hohe Lied, die Klagelieder [], 27).
54 “Nard” (נֵרְדְּ, nerdé) was an aromatic oil extracted from the Valerian nardostachys jatamansi which was an aromatic drug from a plant which grew in the Himalaya region of India, used for perfume ( נֵרְדְּ). Nard was an expensive imported perfume, worn by women at banquets because of its seductive charms. It was used in the as a love potion because of its erotic fragrance (R. K. Harrison, Healing Herbs of the Bible, 48–49).
55 Or “The fragrance of my myrrh wafted forth.”